Who Is Farman Sherwani? Texas Family Found Dead After Daughter Drowned

Four members of a family were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide in Texas, just weeks after their 4-year-old daughter drowned, police said.

Officers were called at about 8:45 a.m. on Monday to the home on Aberdeen Drive in Allen, about 25 miles north of Dallas, for a welfare check, the Allen Police Department said in a statement.

Another resident had been locked out of the house for about two hours and couldn't get family members to come to the door. "After other family members arrived at the house, police gained access and found four people dead," the police department said.

Allen Police Sgt. Jonathan Maness told Newsweek that the incident is being investigated as a murder-suicide, but did not provide further details about what happened.

"This was a shooting, but I don't have any information on which family member was the shooter," he said.

Police have not released the names of the victims, but they were identified as Farman Sherwani, his wife Layla Sherwani, and their sons Shaheen, 12, and Mateen, 2, by the Islamic Association of Allen.

"We are deeply saddened by the news of the passing of four family members," the mosque said in a newsletter. The family's 4-year-old daughter, Lyian, drowned in a swimming pool three weeks ago, according to the newsletter.

Detectives believe the girl's drowning "was a factor," Maness said.

A neighbor told KDFW-TV that the family member who was locked out of the house was a grandmother.

"It was just really sad and really hard. I think all of us just kind of felt for the family," Jacqueline Soto said.

Funeral prayers were held for the family on Tuesday evening.

Abdul Rahman Bashir, the Islamic Association of Allen's imam, said the family were members of the congregation.

"This is definitely news that no one is ready to wake up to hear, let alone the family members, but even for the congregation members who perhaps didn't even know them," he told KDFW-TV. "From what my understanding is they were a close-knit family. Few siblings lived on the same street within walking distance of each other."

Bashir says the family was going through a difficult time after the drowning of their daughter. "In this type of situation, it's not easy for any family. In spite of having many family members here, they were really broken," he said.

Bashir has been contacted for further comment via email.

The mosque also hosted a session later on Tuesday evening with counselors available to help members of the community cope with their grief, according to a Facebook post on its page.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text "988" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.

Update 8/30/23, 9:25 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to add a comment from Jonathan Maness.